This disclosure relates to a method of machining airfoils, such as integrally bladed rotors (IBR), for gas turbine engine applications, for example. This disclosure also relates to cutting tools for use during machining IBRs.
IBRs are used in some gas turbine engine applications and are provided by a unitary structure that includes a hub from which circumferentially arranged blades radially extend. In order to produce an IBR, material from between the blades must be removed during a complex machining process. Typically, multiple passes of a cutting tool along a complex cutting path is used to form each airfoil surface.
In one example, a relatively short cutting tool, or quill, having a straight-edge conical cutting contour is used to grind material from between the blades. The tool is relatively short and its cutting axis is generally parallel to a rotational axis of the IBR. The cutting tool moves along a path that extends along a length of the blade.